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From Isaac Anumihe, Abuja
Federal Government, yesterday, ordered Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), to take over the protection of transmission lines and towers.
Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunjo-Ojo made this remark during the passing-out parade of the 2nd batch of mining marshals of NSCDC in Abuja.
Expressing deep concern over the constant vandalism of transmission lines, towers and transformers, Olubunmi Tunjo-Ojo described the oft-repeated vandalism of the critical national assets as economic sabotage which must be dealt with.
“We will take it sector by sector. We will protect the power sector. We will secure the energy sector. I challenge you to rise up and protect the critical national assets of Nigeria. The rate of vandalism and and economic sabotage going on in our transmission lines need to be looked into. I will give you the leadership. It is not acceptable to destroy power assets.
Today is an opportunity to solve tomorrow’s problem” he said
Meanwhile, Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr Dele Alake acknowledged that the revenue in the mineral sector has improved after the introduction of NSCDC Mining Marshals.
Alake who was represented by the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Dr Mary Adah Ogbe, warned miners to formalise their operations or face the law.
He said that the illegal operations of the miners causes land degradation.
In his remarks, the Commandant General of NSCDC, Dr Ahmed Abubakar Audi stated that the nation’s security especially the mining sector is being threatened by the nefarious activities of illegal miners, bandits, kidnappers, terrorists, etc. a situation that has led to a major setback in the development of the country’s otherwise very lucrative mining sector which is very critical to the country’s socio-economic development.
“There is no gainsaying the fact that Nigeria is blessed with abundance of mineral resources which if properly tapped and managed, could significantly boost Nigeria’s revenue base which represents another giant stride towards stabilising the economy.
Taking against this backdrop, the need to put in place adequate security measures towards strengthening security and safeguarding our collective patrimony cannot be overemphasised” he said.
According to him, there is need for a robust policy guideline backed by legislation, for a robust regulatory measures to combat and criminalise illegal mining.
“This measure will no doubt attract and encourage genuine investors (both indigenous and foreign) to the mining industry” he said.
Recall that the nation has recorded six vandalisms between December last year and now.
The power sector recorded one on December, 21, 2023, which caused the failure of power supply to parts of the North East, namely, Yobe and Borno States.
Just after that, Transmission Company Nigeria (TCN) reported in February 2024 that towers along the Gombe – Damaturu 330kV had been brought down.
Three days later, TCN reported that vandals destroyed its towers 330kV Gwagwalada -Katampe Transmission line.
The destroyed towers affected Gombe, Damaturu, Maiduguri, Yola, Bauchi and Jalingo.
Immediately after fixing the facility, it was destroyed again.
Again, TCN reported that the same Jos-Gombe transformer was destroyed last week, so making the government to make unnecessary expenditures.ENDS
